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The Aprilia
Superbike, the bike which from 2009 will bring the Noale
based company back to four-stroke racing, has been
unveiled for the first time during the Piaggio Group
Convention in Milan.
After the
success in the 2007 World Championships with Aprilia riders
and bikes dominating the 125 and 250 classes (winning all
four titles, a repeat of the 2006 performance), the Veneto
company gave a preview of the eagerly awaited RSV 4 “Race
Machine”. An extraordinary preview to a privileged audience
of more than 1,200 dealers attending the International
Piaggio Group Convention.
Four cylinders,
1000 cc, power of well over 200 HP in the race version, the
new bike due to make its road debut by the end of 2008 will
mark Aprilia's return to the World Superbike Championship in
the 2009 season. The Aprilia RSV 4 is driven by the most
revolutionary and powerful engine ever built by Aprilia. A
four-cylinder one litre 65° V engine - a layout making it
unique among all the world's production engines - in which
the most sophisticated engine engineering is combined with
top quality materials and the most advanced electronic
control technology. The Aprilia engine in fact uses integral
ride-by-wire technology, opening up new frontiers in
managing such a powerful engine, with almost infinite
possibilities for controlling power output and traction.
Aprilia
The origins of
Aprilia date back to immediately after the Second World War,
when Cavalier Alberto Beggio founded a factory in Noale,
province of Venice, to manufacture bicycles. The products of
this small workshop, which ranges from components to
finished products, achieved a good level of success and, in
1962, the sole proprietor company became an Snc.
Alberto's son,
Ivano Beggio, joined his father at the head of the small
company in 1968, and it was clear that his main interest was
not in bicycles when, together with a dozen or so assistants
from the factory, he built the first Aprilia "motorbike", a
gold and blue 50 cc model. The product was well received.
Colibrì and Daniela were the names of the first Aprilia
mopeds, but the model that made itself noticed was the 1970
Scarabeo cross bike. The bike, and the cross version in
particular, were in fact a true passion for those who
dreamed of competing in national competitions, in a
speciality that was constantly increasing in popularity
during those years.
Produced until
the mid-Seventies, the Scarabeo was presented in various
versions with engine sizes of 50 and 125 cc, with aesthetic
features at times truly unique and innovative (starting what
was to become a tradition for Aprilia products), as in the
case of the 1971 model, with its metallic gold paintwork.
The first true
cross bike was born in 1974, and was handed over for testing
to Maurizio Sgarzani, a driver in the cadet class who did
not fare badly during the initial races. The signals were
encouraging. From that bike the Aprilia technicians created
the RC 125, which was presented at the Milan Salon, starting
that insoluble combination of sports and standard production
that has always been a characteristic of the Noale factory.
In 1975 the
first racing Aprilia with an ambition for victory was
presented. Ivan Alborghetti, a Milanese driver who had
already shown himself to have the stuff of a champion, was
chosen to ride it, and it was not long before the results
started to arrive. The first sporting successes helped make
the new Italian make known to lovers of this sport, and the
sale of "replicas" of the RC and MX 125 enabled the new-born
racing division to increase its budget with respect to the 6
million Lire assigned for the first season. The first titles
arrived in 1977 in the Italian championship, in the 125 and
250 classes, while the following year Alborghetti ended the
season with two third places in races and a sixth place
overall in the world championship: the best position ever
achieved by an Italian rider.
In the meantime,
the Noale factory's name had extended outside the boundaries
of Italy. Foreign markets, which absorb 20% of all
production, and in particular the American market, show
great appreciation for Aprilia bikes. The decade ended with
a constant growth in production, which was divided into
mopeds and cross bikes. In ten years the company grew
considerably: from 1969 to 1979, annual production of mopeds
went from 150 to 12,000 units, whereas for bikes in just
four years production had exceeded 2,000 units per year.
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